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Starfleet ranks
Starfleet ranks are the identifying titles for the officers and enlisted members of the Starfleet of the United Federation of Planets. The use of Starfleet ranks predates the Federation to the early days of the Earth Starfleet with the titles and positions adopted from earlier Earth naval forces. Creation and early usage Starfleet ranks were first created sometime in the mid 22nd century due to the expansion of the Earth Starfleet. The early Starfleet ranks had at least three enlisted position, four officer ranks, and three ranks for use by flag officers. Starfleet uniforms of this period were mainly worn as single fitting jumpsuits with a colored shoulder trim denoting what field a particular officer or crewman specialized in (command, security/engineering, or science/medical). The original Starfleet rank pattern was as follows: Dialogue from ''Star Trek Enterprise indicated that the "four star" rank of admiral also existed in the Earth Starfleet, but no one holding this rank was ever seen on camera'' Mid-23rd century By the mid 2250s, Starfleet had changed its uniforms and had adopted a much simpler rank and insignia system. Enlisted personnel wore no rank insignia while the rank of Chief Petty Officer was denoted by a special sleeve stripe. Commissioned officers wore a solid gold stripe. This system would stay in place for at least fifteen years, with only a slight modification in the early 2260s, when those holding the rank of Captain were authorized two gold stripes whereas other officers wore one. By 2265, the rank system was as follows: No ranks above Captain were seen in the Star Trek pilot episodes, leaving the question as to admiral insignia completely unknown The 2260s and 2270s By 2266, Starfleet had again changed its uniforms and, while still using the sleeve stripe system to denote rank, the rank stripes had been modified to show more detail for each particular rank. An exception was that enlisted personnel, chief petty officers included, now had no insignia what so ever with much enlisted personnel also wearing Starfleet jumpsuits instead of the standard tunic uniforms worn by the officers. Starfleet flag officers wore a thicker braid insignia than regular officers and the rank of cadet and midshipman were both apparently in use at Starfleet Academy. The 2266 rank and insignia pattern was as follows: :The only admiral seen wearing insignia in the Original Series was Admiral Fitzpatrick who, although addressed as "Admiral", wore an insignia which has been equated in numerous technical manuals and fan publications as Vice Admiral. The rank of Fleet admiral was also mentioned to have existed in but an actual Fleet admiral was not seen on camera until In 2271, Starfleet changed its uniforms again, although mainly in appearance only. The rank insignia of officers remained relatively the same, with the exception that the rank of Lieutenant junior grade was apparently done away with. Enlisted personnel also adopted a style of their own rank insignia and both officers and admirals could now wear a short sleeve "Class B" uniform which displayed rank insignia on shoulder tabs. The 2271 rank insignia pattern was as follows: Corresponding officer should boards appeared as follows: Late 23rd - Mid 24th century By the year 2279, Starfleet had again changed its uniforms, abandoning the previous sleeve stripe system and adopting a totally new insignia design which incorporated a series of rank pins worn on a shoulder strap with the color of the strap determining the bearer's branch within Starfleet. The shoulder strap system also matched with a cuff strap which could display various citation and years-of-service pins. Finally, in the case of admirals, another series of cuff straps denoted the particular rank of the Admiral. Enlisted uniforms were also completely revamped from previous versions and now were worn as jumpsuits with rank pins worn on the lower right sleeve. Enlisted ranks themselves were expanded, encompassing several grades of Petty Officer and Chief Petty Officer. With the exception of some minor cosmetic changes to officer uniforms, including the introduction of a standard communicator pin around 2344, the uniforms and insignia of the late 23rd century would remain unchanged until approximately the year 2355. :A Captain rank badge was among the items which were sold off on the It's A Wrap! sale and auction on eBay. The insignia pattern was as follows: The 24th century By the year 2355, Starfleet had introduced a new uniform design with the manner of insignia returning to the pip system used by the Earth Starfleet more than two hundred years earlier. Unlike the predecessor system, however, the 24th century pip system used the ranks lieutenant junior grade and lieutenant commander and also introduced a generic "hollow pip" insignia to denote enlisted personnel. The pip system used introduced in the mid 24th century would remain relatively unchanged and by 2379 was still the standard insignia system used by Starfleet, although the uniforms themselves had undergone a change. The original officer and enlisted pip system, introduced in the 2350s was as follows: :Close examination of the Next Generation Season 1 and 2 DVDs indicates that in some episodes officers wore silver pips instead of gold. Most reference manuals, however, state that the gold pips were used all along to denote rank on Starfleet uniforms of this era. The insignia for flag officers had a slightly different history than those of the regular officer and enlisted corps. In the 2360s, Admirals wore a tuip of triangular insignia on a special flag officer uniform. By 2366, this insignia had been replaced by a "boxed pip" system worn vertically on the flag uniform collar. The very next year the Admiral insignia changed again, this time to worn flat against the collar in the same way as the insignia worn by other grades. The original flag officer insignia pattern was as follows: By 2367, the admiral insignia appeared as follows: By the mid 2370s, Starfleet had made a further change to its insignia, this change pertaining to enlisted personnel. Replacing the "hollow pip" generic insignia was a new chevron system, worn as pins on the collar of the enlisted personnel's uniform. The chevron system displayed rank for the petty officer and chief petty office grades. :Chief O'Brien's Senior Chief Petty Officer pin was the only badge ever seen on camera, although the Deep Space Nine costume designers had designed a system covering all ranks between Petty Officer 3rd class up to Master Chief Petty Officer. Comparative rank tables Flag officers The most senior section of Starfleet is described as the "flag officers." These ranks are the highest levels of Starfleet Command. ;Fleet admiral : The most senior flag rank in Starfleet. In 2293, the commander in chief of Starfleet held this rank. ( ) ;Admiral : The second most senior flag rank known to exist in Starfleet. ;Vice admiral : Starfleet flag rank immediately inferior to full admiral, but superior to a rear admiral. ;Rear admiral : The lowest grade of admiral in Starfleet. It is inferior to a vice admiral, and superior to a commodore or captain. ;Commodore : Immediately superior to a captain, and just before rear admiral. Line officer ranks ;Captain : The most senior regular line rank in Starfleet. It is most often applied to starship and starbase commanders, and the adjutants and executives serving beneath admirals. This rank is usually considered a big transition, because it is often the first rank in which officers run a base of operation (for example, a starship) more or less by themselves. The equivalent military rank to Starfleet captain is colonel. ::In the modern US Navy, captain is a four-stripe officer rank. This insignia style was used in ENT all TNG era productions. During TOS and the movies, it had differing insignia. The TOS captains wore one full braid, a broken braid and another full braid. However, in the pilot , Captain Pike wore only a single rank strip, so it was not clear how other officers were differentiated from captains. By , Kirk was the only officer with two stripes, but that system didn't differentiate any other officer grades below captain except for no-stripe ensigns. ;Commander : The Starfleet line rank immediately inferior to captain. Officers at this rank typically hold positions such as space station commander (for example Sisko prior to 2372) or first officer of important starships (for example Riker, on the and -E from 2364 – 2379). Line officers reaching this rank typically have between ten and fifteen years of experience in Starfleet. The rank of Commander is also used by some Chief Medical Officers, including Beverly Crusher and Katherine Pulaski. ;Lieutenant commander : The Starfleet line rank immediately inferior to commander. Officers with this rank typically hold positions as starship department heads (for example, Montgomery Scott, Geordi La Forge), or, in some cases, as commanding officer (for example, Piersall aboard the Prometheus) or first officer of a starship (for example, Benjamin Sisko aboard the Saratoga, Christopher Hobson aboard the Sutherland, or Cavit aboard prior to his death when Voyager was thrown deep into the Delta Quadrant). ;Lieutenant : The Starfleet line rank immediately inferior to lieutenant commander. Officers at this rank typically have some command experience, and are occasionally appointed department heads on starships. Typically they are shift commanders in a department under a lieutenant commander; for example, a lieutenant commander will be chief of engineering and will also be commander of A shift, and there will be a B and a C shift, each under a lieutenant. ::The United States armed forces have various programs for service members to begin their careers as officers in higher pay grades than second lieutenant or ensign, with commissioning in the rank of Lieutenant common for such United States Navy occupations as Judge Advocate General Corps (JAG), Chaplains, Medical and Medical Service Corps, as well as the Navy Dental Corps. Whether Starfleet utilizes a similar policy for commissioning officers in the medical and science fields is unknown, although highly likely given Counselor Deanna Troi's rapid rise to lieutenant commander after her advanced studies on Betazed. This may also explain how Saavik of Vulcan was both a cadet and a lieutenant in . ;Lieutenant junior grade : The Starfleet line rank immediately inferior to lieutenant. Officers at this rank typically hold support positions on starships and starbases. At this rank, they have begun to prove their ability to perform acceptably in Starfleet, and typically begin to take on more senior roles in command situations. Typical posts at this rank are conn officer, communications officer, or second officer of a shift (see lieutenant). It is also the rank bestowed on medical doctors and counselors (but not nurses) upon completion of their studies and training at Starfleet Medical Academy or elsewhere. This rank acknowledges the additional time required to become commissioned as reflected in Beverly Crusher's service record and confirmed by Julian Bashir's age as a recent Academy graduate.( ) Assistant counselor Ezri Dax skipped her final months of training and was explicitly given "commission as a full counselor with the rank of lieutenant grade". ( ) ;Ensign : The most junior Starfleet line rank. It is the rank bestowed on newly-commissioned officers when they graduate from Starfleet Academy. Ensigns typically begin their careers as the most junior officers in the department of their chosen specialty. Ensigns who have strongly distinguished themselves in their academy class or on duty may sometimes be given posts as main-shift bridge officers (for example Ensign Harry Kim). A typical officer spends approximately three years at the rank of ensign. ( ) Provisional officers During some periods of its existence, Starfleet has maintained a procedure of granting temporary rank to civilians when the civilian in question would be required to have authority over Starfleet personnel. In 2364, Starfleet propulsion expert Kosinski ran several upgrade experiments on the ''Enterprise-D. Kosinski wore a unique rank insignia denoting his special postion. ( ) : It is unknown what rank Kosinski held. It is possible that he was a provisional lieutenant junior grade. Other sources have stated he was a warrant officer. The crew of the USS Voyager, made up largely of Maquis members was forced to make use of provisional rank appointments as a matter of course since the ship was stranded in the Delta Quadrant and the Maquis members were essential to shipboard operations. The provisional insignia system as of 2372 was as follows: :A rank of provisional commander also most probably existed, logically consisting of three solid gold lines within the lozenge, but was never seen on camera. In , Chakotay is promoted to Captain and wears the standard Starfleet insignia of four pips. This seems to indicate that there is no provisional rank insignia for Captain. Cadet ranks Cadet ranks are held by those attending Starfleet Academy during their training to become commissioned officers. ;Cadet 1st class : Cadets of this rank are fourth-year students at Starfleet Academy. After graduation, these cadets are granted the rank of ensign. ;Cadet 2nd class : Cadets of this rank are third-year students at Starfleet Academy. ;Cadet 3rd class : Cadets of this rank are second-year students at Starfleet Academy. Cadets at this rank take part in field training at a space station or outpost. ;Cadet 4th class : Cadets of this rank are first-year students at Starfleet Academy. :The rank of midshipman has occasionally been interchanged with that of cadet, although this rank's exact status remains unclear. Non-commissioned officers The enlisted section of Starfleet has a hierarchy of "noncoms," short for non-commissioned officers. These ranks are achieved by members of Starfleet who have not attended Starfleet Academy. It should also be noted that the chief rank insignia listed in 2350-2370 was given to Wesley Crusher (TNG) to signify acting ensign status, allowing him to serve on bridge staff. ;Master chief petty officer ;Senior chief petty officer : Also known as "senior chief specialist". ;Chief petty officer ;Petty officer first class : Also known as "technician first class", etc. ;Petty officer second class : Also known as "specialist second class", etc. ;Petty officer third class : Also known as "yeoman third class", etc. Crewmen ;Crewman first class ;Crewman second class ;Crewman third class The lowest possible rank of Recruit, rated below the Crewman grades, has no insignia. Titles and Positions Fleet captain Fleet captain is a title bestowed on senior Starfleet captains. It is a rare distinction, held by particularly distinguished captains. The title of fleet captain was held by former Enterprise Captain Christopher Pike in the year 2266. It was also held in the 2260s, by Captain Garth, one of Starfleet's most decorated captains and hero of the Battle of Axanar. :Although this title was not used in canon at any point after TOS, fleet captain was assigned a rank pin in the ''Star Trek Encyclopedia, as part of a movie-era set of ranks established for Star Trek II through Star Trek VI. The pin was the same as the captain's rank pin, but with two additional "flags" attached to the long edges of the pin. In addition, FASA's Star Trek: The Next Generation Officer's Manual carried the idea of a fleet captain insignia into the TNG era, using five solid pips to designate the rank.'' Deputy Director Deputy Director is a positional titles whose exact relationship to the regular Starfleet rank tier is somewhat unclear; although the position does warrant some command authoirty over a Captain. The insignia for Deputy Director is ielf the four pips of a Captain centered above a gold bar. Colonel In 2293, Starfleet Colonel West was involved in the Khitomer conspiracy. ( ) :Although it is likely that colonel is equivalent to a captain, Colonel West wore the uniform of a Starfleet vice admiral. His rank was in fact taken from the real-life Lt. Colonel . It was not revealed if there is a special branch of services in Starfleet that colonels would serve in. Corporal In 2154, Starfleet Corporal Askwith perished at the Earth embassy on Vulcan. ( ) : It is likely that the costuming department was supposed to place the actor in a MACO uniform. Miscellaneous In 2254, Captain Christopher Pike, while on Talos IV, imagined himself as an Orion trader. He imagined an officer in a dress uniform with him at the Orion colony wearing peculiar shoulder epaulets and of unknown rank. ( ) :The Space officer wore one stripe, indicating he may have been a simple line officer between the ranks of lieutenant and captain. It is possible that the officer represented an admiral. In 2376, The Doctor aboard Voyager briefly resigned his Starfleet commission. ( ) : The Doctor wore no rank insignia, and this was the only indication that he was a commissioned Starfleet officer. It is likely that the Doctor's unique situation allowed him (and perhaps other Emergency Medical Holograms) to have a Starfleet commission without a rank. Background Development Starfleet ranks were designed by William Ware Theiss with the first versions adopted mainly from the insignia of the United States Navy. According to Inside Star Trek: The Real Story, Gene Roddenberry had not wanted Starfleet to appear "too military" which is why the stripe system was "toned down" by making a Lieutenant begin with one stripe (in the real U.S. Navy this insignia would be worn by an Ensign) and having ensigns wear no insignia. The later pip designs of Star Trek: The Next Generation and Star Trek Enterprise would mirror the insignia system of the U.S. navy almost exactly. However, in the March 2003 issue of Star Trek: The Magazine, it was stated that there are no lieutenant commander and lieutenant jg ranks in Earth's Starfleet. As these ranks never appeared on Star Trek: Enterprise, there is no definitive evidence regarding their existence during the 22nd century. Among the items which were sold off on the It's A Wrap! sale and auction on eBay, was a rank pin of an "able seaman". Implied ranks Several insignia patterns were designed and created by the producers of Star Trek films and television series, although the full spectrum of ranks did not appear on camera. The first such pattern was the full array of flag officer insignia designed by William Ware Theiss to appear in Star Trek: The Original Series Dialouge from the first season episode established that Starfleet had admiral ranks as high as Fleet Admiral, but the highest on screen admiral ever seen was simply stated to be an admiral (and the insignia, according to costume notes was that of Vice Admiral). Including the official insignia designed by Theiss, the full range of Admiral insignia from the Original Series is as follows: Script notes and costume design templates from also provide insignia patterns for the first three Starfleet flag ranks. The senior ranks of Admiral and Fleet Admiral, although definite to exist, were not discussed in the film leaving the question open as to how the insignia for these two ranks may appear. Thus, the flag officer insignia pattern for is as follows: The first season of Star Trek: The Next Generation showed admiral ranks ranging to Vice Admiral; however Admiral and Fleet Admiral were never seen on camera. Surviving script and costume notes indicate the following pattern for the first season admirals of Star Trek: The Next Generation. During the entire run of Star Trek: The Next Generation, two flag ranks which were never seen on camera were that of the one star admiral rank, using the "boxed pip" insignia, as well as a Starfleet Fleet Admiral. Costume notes, in particular those of Michael Okuda, provide the insignia for these two ranks. A similar matter also arose during Star Trek: Enterprise when the ranks of full admiral and fleet admiral were never seen (although they were discussed), leaving costume notes from the series as the only known source for how these insignia would appear. In all, the following four insignia never appeared on camera and thus are not considered as canon material: A final array of insignia which the viewing audience never was able to see were the full specturm of enlisted insignia patches designed for Star Trek: Deep Space Nine. In all, the costume designers for the show developed rank patches for every enlisted rank from Petty Officer 3rd Class to Master Chief Petty Officer. The budget of the show, however, prevented mass production of these insignia and, other than Miles O'Brien, no enlisted personnel appeared wearing the following collar patch enlisted ranks: Warrant Officers According to Robert Fletcher, designer of the movie-era Starfleet ranks, Starfleet doesn't have warrant ranks in the 2280s. The non-canon reference manuals Star Trek: The Next Generation Officer's Manual and the Klingon Covert Operations Manual speak briefly on the subject. According to the Star Trek Encyclopedia, the insignia worn by CPO Miles O'Brien in DS9's first few years and enlisted Maquis on VOY was supposed to represent a warrant officer, even though numerous dialog references and general naval parlance about the ranks of those referred to would seem to disprove this time and again. See also * Starfleet admirals * Starfleet captains * Starfleet commanders * Starfleet lieutenants * Starfleet ensigns * Starfleet cadets * Starfleet enlisted personnel * Starfleet crewmen de:Sternenflottenränge nl:Starfleet rangen